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Henry Wilson
| birth_place=Farmington, New Hampshire | death_date= | death_place=Washington, D.C. | spouse=Harriet Malvina Howe Wilson | party=Republican | religion=Congregationalist | president=Ulysses S. Grant | signature = Henry Wilson Signature2.svg }} Henry Wilson (February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was the 18th Vice President of the United States and a Senator from Massachusetts. During the American Civil War, he was a leading Republican who devoted his enormous energies to the destruction of what he called the Slave Power, which he defined as a conspiracy of slave owners to seize control of the federal government and block the progress of liberty. After the Civil War, Wilson's fellow Republicans nominated him to be Vice President of the United States. He was elected in 1872 to be the 18th U.S. Vice President; he served in this position from March 4, 1873 until November 22, 1875, when he died in office. Biography Wilson was born Jeremiah Jones Colbath in Farmington, New Hampshire. In 1833 he had his name legally changed by the legislature to Henry Wilson. Henry Wilson moved to Natick, Massachusetts in 1833 and became a shoemaker. He attended several local academies, and also taught school in Natick, where he later engaged in the manufacture of shoes. He was a member of the state legislature between 1841 and 1852, and was owner and editor of the Boston Republican from 1848 to 1851. .|left]] U.S. Congress Wilson was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1852 to Congress. He was a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1853 and was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in 1853. In 1855 he was elected to the United States Senate by a coalition of Free-Soilers, Americans (aka Know Nothings), and Democrats to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Edward Everett. He was reelected as a Republican in 1859, 1865 and 1871, and served from January 31, 1855, to March 3, 1873, when he resigned to become Vice President. He was Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia and the Committee on Military Affairs. In that capacity, Wilson passed on over 15,000 nominations that Lincoln submitted during the course of the War, and worked closely with him on legislation affecting the Army and Navy.371. Herndon, William H. and Jesse Weik. Douglas L. Wilson and Rodney O. Davis (Editors) Herndon’s Informants: Letters, Interviews, and Statements About Abraham Lincoln (1998), § 444, p. 561. In 1861 he raised and commanded the 22nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. A controversy that swirled around Wilson's name since 1861 was that he (while Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs) may have revealed plans for the invasion of Virginia culminating in the First Battle of Bull Run to southern spy (and Washington society figure) Rose O'Neal Greenhow. Wilson (although married) had seen a great deal of Mrs. Greenhow, and while with her may have told her about the plans followed by Major General Irvin McDowell, which may have been part of the intelligence Mrs. Greenhow got to Confederate forces under Major General Pierre Beauregard. If so this information may have led to the Northern rout in that battle. However, in his most recent biography, an alternative (a Northern clerk named Horace White) was suggested as the real leak. Vice President Wilson was elected Vice President of the United States on the Republican ticket with President Ulysses S. Grant to replace the controversial Schuyler Colfax and served from March 4, 1873, until his death. His election victory was tainted, however, when it was shown that he was one of several major Republican (and Democratic) Congressmen and Senators who were offered bribes (and possibly took them) of shares in the Credit Mobilier scandal by its organizer, Congressman Oakes Ames. Wilson was cleared by the Senate inquiry, but his reputation was stained. Declining health and death The Vice President suffered a serious stroke in 1873. Although partly paralyzed, he fought to actively perform his duties as presiding officer over the United States Senate. On November 22, 1875, Wilson died from a second stroke while working in the United States Capitol Building at Washington, D.C. He was interred in Old Dell Park Cemetery, Natick. Books Among Wilson's published works are: History of the Anti-Slavery Measures of the Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth Congresses, 1861-64 (1864); History of the Reconstruction Measures of the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses, 1865-68 (1868); and an exceedingly valuable publication, History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America, (three volumes, 1872–77). See also *Henry Wilson Shoe Shop References * Ernest McKay, Henry Wilson, Practical Radical: Portrait of a Politician, (Port Washington, NY, London: National University Publications: Kennikat Press, 1971), Series in American Studies edited by James P. Shenton ISBN 0-8046-9010-3 * Henry Wilson, History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America, 2 vols. (Boston: J. R. Osgood and Co., 1873–77) Trivia * His desk was the desk used by Richard Nixon during his administration. Nixon really wanted the desk used by Woodrow Wilson, and when he asked for a "Wilson desk", he received the desk used by Henry Wilson. Nixon didn't figure out this mistake until later on.Urban Legend Page References External links * Retrieved on 2008-02-15 * Retrieved on 2008-02-15 *[http://www.archive.org/details/antislaverymease00wilsrich History of the antislavery measures of the Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth United-States Congresses, 1861-64] by Henry Wilson at archive.org *[http://www.archive.org/details/wilsonsreconstrume00henrrich History of the reconstruction measures of the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses, 1865-68] by Henry Wilson at archive.org *''History of the rise and fall of the slave power in America'', Vol 1, Vol 2 and Vol 3 by Henry Wilson at archive.org * *22nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Inc. |- Category:Vice Presidents of the United States Category:Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees Category:United States Senators of a third party Category:United States Senators from Massachusetts Category:Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Category:American historians Category:19th-century American newspaper editors Category:Know Nothing Category:People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War Category:Union political leaders Category:Union Army officers Category:American Congregationalists Category:Historians of the American Civil War Category:1812 births Category:1875 deaths Category:19th-century vice presidents of the United States cs:Henry Wilson da:Henry Wilson de:Henry Wilson (Politiker) dv:Henry Wilson es:Henry Wilson fr:Henry Wilson id:Henry Wilson it:Henry Wilson he:הנרי וילסון ka:ჰენრი უილსონი sw:Henry Wilson la:Henricus Wilson nl:Henry Wilson (vicepresident) ja:ヘンリー・ウィルソン no:Henry Wilson km:ហិនរី វីលសុន pl:Henry Wilson pt:Henry Wilson ru:Уилсон, Генри simple:Henry Wilson fi:Henry Wilson sv:Henry Wilson yo:Henry Wilson zh:亨利·威尔逊